Tug Of War Intensifies Within Left Bloc In Kerala Over Assembly Post

A major tug of war has broken out within the Left alliance in Kerala over the post of Deputy Leader of Opposition in the Assembly.

The CPI is refusing to back down from its demand for the post, and the CPM too appears unwilling to concede. The issue is expected to come up for discussion at the CPM state secretariat meeting on Saturday.

The CPM has already elected former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan as the Leader of the Opposition.

The CPI has made it clear that it will not compromise its demand, arguing that as the second-largest party in the opposition alliance, it deserves the Deputy Opposition Leader's post. The state unit of the party has also sought the central leadership's intervention to take up the matter with the CPM.

The CPM, however, maintains that both the Leader of Opposition and Deputy Leader's posts have traditionally been held by the party since the days of former Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan and it sees no reason to alter that arrangement.

The leadership tussle comes at a time when the CPM begins a series of crucial meetings to analyse its defeat in the recent Assembly elections. The state secretariat will meet on Saturday, followed by the state committee meetings on Sunday and Monday.

The primary agenda of the meetings is to prepare a detailed review report examining the reasons behind the electoral setback. During discussions at district and area committee levels, some leaders had reportedly demanded that the state secretary step down and opposed any move to project Pinarayi Vijayan as the Leader of the Opposition.

The ongoing disagreement between the CPM and CPI over the Deputy Opposition Leader's post is also expected to feature prominently in the deliberations.

The Left alliance was defeated by the Congress-led UDF in the recent Kerala elections after a 10-year-run.